5.8. Psychological features of the functioning of money outside the sphere of commodity production - the psychology of money

As a universal commodity, money functions in the areas of tax payments, payment of pensions and benefits, etc.

It is well known that people do not like to pay taxes, because they have to give their own. Since ancient times, states have developed strict tax exemption systems, the non-payment of which is punishable by the strictest laws. Even in the USSR, where taxes were automatically deducted from wages, a tax collection service operated, since elements of a mixed economy remained. Financial inspectors went to private entrepreneurs (dressmakers who worked at home, teachers, brokers, etc.) and collected taxes for almost all 70 years of Soviet power.

In general, the attitude to taxes in the Soviet era was abstract. Currently, there are real contacts with the tax authorities. However, the attitude to taxes varies among different groups of the population. For wage earners in state-owned enterprises, the payroll tax was invisible to the payee. The attitude to taxes, as a system that provides wages, was positive. For small artisans, it is rather negative, since their worldview is the worldview of a loner. Large businessmen have a real attitude: this is both the understanding that taxes have to be paid, and evasion because of their exorbitant size. The main thing, according to the results of research by Danish scientists, is how much the taxpayer understands tax laws (often changes in tax rates are perceived incorrectly or erroneously), how he generally relates to the tax system as a whole and how burdensome it seems to him. The reaction of people depends on whether the declaration is filled out by itself or other people need help.

Pensions, regardless of what the pension system is, are earned by a pensioner and are by no means a benefit from society. The size of the pension can be judged on the attitude towards the elderly, the distribution of national wealth, the wealth of the country. If a pension does not even provide a living wage, it is perceived with negative emotions - an insult to its often heroic work in the past, envy of those who receive large pensions. In society, this contributes to creating a negative climate that neutralizes positive emotions and moods.

Benefits are paid to various categories of the population, for example, mothers with many children, single mothers. These benefits - a means of implementing a demographic policy. Thus, in pre-war France, when the depopulation of the population began, allowances for children were introduced, with a larger amount being paid for each subsequent child. Pay benefits and single mothers. Although this policy did not justify itself, the laws remained, and it is often possible to meet married couples who do not marry as long as child support is paid. Such benefits are paid to unemployed parents. In the Danish population policy, all measures are used against childbirth, but if a child is born, all means are used for its decent upbringing. In Russia, allowances for children are small, far from the subsistence minimum for a child. Psychologically, this has a large negative impact on the perception of oneself, of one’s country. The Russian mentality is not altogether alien to the features of self-flagellation, derogation, low self-esteem. Naturally, getting money for which you can not buy almost anything for a child increases the negative attitude to himself and to the country.